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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29184048">On a Cold Winter Day</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellana17/pseuds/Ellana17'>Ellana17</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Creed is All There is [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Assassin's Creed - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Cultural Differences, F/M, Idiots in Love, Mutual Pining</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 13:36:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,389</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29184048</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellana17/pseuds/Ellana17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Truth be told, the mead was not at fault. Hytham was. He had somehow pierced through her carefully crafted armor like it was nothing and had managed to touch her heart.</p><p>Or: Eivor doesn’t want to address how Hytham is making her feel.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Eivor/Hytham (Assassin's Creed)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Creed is All There is [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2137839</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>68</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>On a Cold Winter Day</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I was thinking about this Ancient Sparta tradition of staged bride kidnapping and I started wondering if Vikings had something similar. Turn out they did!</p><p>Don’t get me wrong, bride kidnapping is truly horrifying but staged bride kidnapping always seemed kind of cute to me.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Eivor woke up with a pounding head and a mouth as dry as sand. She groaned in pain and rolled over, mindful not to wake Hytham who was still asleep besides her.</p><p>By Odin! What had she done?</p><p>Mead had always made her promiscuous but never before had she spilled her feelings in such a manner. She had forgotten herself for a moment – a mistake she would not be making again. Truth be told, the mead was not at fault. Hytham was. He had somehow pierced through her carefully crafted armor like it was nothing and had managed to touch her heart. No man ever had that effect on her before. No man ever had made her feel so vulnerable. She hated feeling vulnerable.</p><p>The previous night had been a mistake – one she did not intent on making ever again.</p><p>Eivor stood up slowly and her vision filled with spots of light as the pain pierced through her skull. She would need to go to Valka and ask her for a decoction to soothe the pain.</p><p>Eivor left the room quietly. She did not want to face Hytham at the moment. She needed time to gather her thoughts and think of a way of making him understand why they had made a mistake without hurting him unnecessarily. She would go hunting later as that was the perfect opportunity to spend some time alone with her thoughts.</p><p>Before she could step out of the long house however, she spotted Basim waiting for her at the door.</p><p>“Have you seen Hytham?” he asked in a way that made it clear he already knew the answer.</p><p>“Why?” she asked instead of answering.</p><p>Basim raised his hand, showing her the letter he was holding. “We received a raven with a new lead about the Order,” he explained.</p><p>Eivor bit her lip, hoping that Basim would let her go before Hytham woke up.</p><p>“I’m sure Hytham would be glad to hear about it once he reappears,” she said.</p><p>Basil raised one eyebrow skeptically. “And when will that be?” he asked.</p><p>Eivor had to force herself not to glance back at her room. “I haven’t seen him,” she said, holding his gaze.</p><p>She heard light footsteps behind her and judging by the look on Basim’s face, she guessed that Hytham had just emerged from her room at last. She chanced a quick glance at him. The man was a mess. She could practically see his headache behind his glassy eyes and his face was unusually pale. She was surprised to notice he seemed slightly put out and was pointedly avoiding her eyes.</p><p>Basim handed Hytham the letter without a word before leaving. Eivor, shifting from foot to foot, waited as Hytham read the letter silently.</p><p>“I’m going to Ledecestre,” Hytham finally said as he folded the letter.</p><p>He stepped out of the long house without a look back and Eivor could not help but follow him.</p><p>“Why? What does it say?” she asked.</p><p>“Our mysterious partner is sending us to Ledecestre and I’m going to follow that lead.”</p><p>Eivor frowned. “I should be the one going there. I’ve been tracking every other member of the Order until now.”</p><p>Hytham huffed in annoyance. “Be ready to leave in one hour,” he said curtly.</p><p>Eivor watched him walk away, surprised by his coldness.</p><p>ooo</p><p>Hytham had not said a word since they had left Ravensthorpe and Eivor had been trying to understand what could have caused such a change in behavior. Hytham was upset with her, that much was clear, but why? Did he regret the previous night? Was he crossed with her for leaving in the morning? Eivor winced as she remembered what she had told him… She had asked him not to leave, hadn’t she? And she had been the one leaving.</p><p>By Odin! The mistakes kept piling up and Eivor had no idea how to remedy the situation. How she cursed her lack of judgment! She should really learn to think more before acting on an impulse. Her boldness had always been more trouble than it was worth.</p><p>Hytham started talking again after a while, only to explain the content of the letter and their mission. Eivor had to refrain from letting her disappointment show. After all, she had been thinking of a way to gently let him down. However, she never would have thought Hytham would be the one rejecting her.</p><p>They travelled in relative silence and when they finally reached their destination, Hytham had regained his composure. They made their way to the open-air tavern near the Roman ruins. They each paid for a tankard of mead and sat down on each side of a table, facing each other.</p><p>“How will we know who’s that Godric we’re looking for?” she asked.</p><p>Hytham shrugged. “We will ask around. Mead tends to loosen the tongue.”</p><p>Eivor sighed internally. That was precisely what had caused their current predicament. Her eyes travelled over his face, along his jaw line and quickly looked away as their eyes met. His anger towards her seemed to have faded somewhat at least but she still felt like she owed him an explanation for her appalling conduct toward him.</p><p>“Hytham, I-”</p><p>“Hey! You, Dane!” someone suddenly exclaimed.</p><p>Hytham immediately tensed and his hand went to the sword at his waist as Eivor reached across the table to stop his arm. She shook her head discreetly before turning around and facing the man that had hailed her: a Saxon man of thirty winters who seemed to be well on his way to drunkenness judging by the way he swayed his way to them. He practically collapsed on a stool next to Eivor.</p><p>“What must a man do to get a Dane woman to marry him these days?”</p><p>Eivor’s eyebrows shot up. “I’m sorry?”</p><p>“I’m in love with the most beautiful, sweetest Danish girl in the land,” he exclaimed, a dreamy look on his face. “Her hair is like a field of wheat kissed by the morning sun and her eyes- two shining emeralds!”</p><p>“Congratulations?” she offered hesitantly, sharing an amused look with Hytham.</p><p>The Saxon shook his head vigorously and banged his tankard of mead on the table, spilling some of the beverage around. “No! No!” he slurred. “Her family won’t let us get married!” he exclaimed. “They want her to marry a… a yol… a yal…”</p><p>“A jarl?” Hytham supplied.</p><p>The man clapped his hands together. “Yes! Precisely! My wealth doesn’t mean anything to them! They want her to marry someone <em>important</em>.”</p><p>“And this woman,” Eivor said, “Does she love you also?”</p><p>“Of course she does! She doesn’t want to marry a stranger even if they hail from the same land.”</p><p>Eivor nodded. “I see. Well, there is but one solution to your troubles, my friend. You must take her for yourself. To Helheim with what her family thinks.”</p><p>The man stared at her unblinkingly. “You mean-”</p><p>“Surely you don’t mean-” Hytham said at the same time.</p><p>Eivor could not help but smirk at their looks of bafflement.</p><p>“Trust me,” she told the man. “Your woman will know exactly what I’m talking about. Be a Dane for once in your life. All you need is a good horse. The two of you need to get away from here for a little while. Once she has a babe in her belly, there’s nothing her family can do. Well, I suppose her brother might try to kill you. Does she have a brother?”</p><p>The man had gone very pale. “She has three brothers.”</p><p>“Better get a fast horse then,” Eivor said simply. She chanced a glance at Hytham; he was staring at her as though seeing her for the first time.</p><p>The Saxon gulped the last of his mead. “It all seems very…”</p><p>“Barbaric?” Eivor supplied.</p><p>The man nodded before standing up suddenly. “I need more mead. Lots and lots of mead.”</p><p>Eivor raised the tankard to her lips as she glanced back at Hytham who was still staring at her. She could not help but snort and almost choked on a mouthful of mead.</p><p>“You should see the look on your face, my friend,” she could not help but tease.</p><p>“Is it really how your people do this sort of things?” he finally asked.</p><p>“Sometimes,” she shrugged. “We do hold more traditional ceremonies,” she explained. “And consent from both families is important in most cases… From time to time a man will abduct a woman, with her father’s consent, of course.”</p><p>Hytham frowned. “I see. So her father would have to agree to the match, then?”</p><p>Eivor nodded. “Or her uncle or brother, if her father’s dead.”</p><p>“So if a man wanted to marry you…”</p><p>“He’d have to ask Sigurd. Not that any of them would even try.”</p><p>“Too afraid of the mighty jarl?”</p><p>Eivor shook her head grimly. “It has become really clear amongst my people that I would not make a good wife,” she stated plainly.</p><p>Hytham frowned. “Why not?” he asked.</p><p>“My people value strength, that much is true. However, women are expected to act… a certain way. I’ve chosen a different path a long time ago. I know how to yield an axe but I have not the first idea about managing a household. And no matter how much they respect strength in a man… my people think that women should know their place. No man would be mad enough to try to make me his wife. I’ve made my peace with it. Besides, I’d rather stand on a battlefield with an axe in my hand. Marrying has never been part of my projects.”</p><p>Eivor had finally found the right words. She only hoped that Hytham would take them for what they were: an apology and an explanation for her recent behavior. She hoped it would be enough. Hytham had made her forget her true nature but reality had finally caught up to her. She could not afford any weakness.</p><p>When Hytham nodded wordlessly, Eivor suddenly got the feeling she had let a perfect chance at happiness pass her by. However, her duties would soon make her forget her regrets.</p><p>Their Saxon friend finally reappeared, looking even less steady on his feet than before. “I could never live in sin,” he told Eivor.</p><p>She rolled her eyes at him. “You’ll have time for a church wedding later,” she exclaimed. “Promises made inside a church have little meaning for my people. Actions have always spoken louder than words, you would do well to remember that. Now the real question is what are you willing to do to have her?” she asked.</p><p>The man stared at her. “I would do anything,” he finally answered with fire in his eyes.</p><p>Eivor nodded. “Then do as I said. You can get married in your God’s eyes later. I think he would bear you no ill will.”</p><p>The man nodded. “Thank you for you help, kind stranger.”</p><p>“Perhaps you can help us in return,” Hytham told him. “We are looking for a man by the name of Godric.”</p><p>The man glanced around them. “Him,” he said. Eivor followed his gaze to a Saxon man bragging about his drinking feats and female conquests. She smirked.</p><p>“Wait here,” she told Hytham.</p><p>A drinking contest was exactly what she needed at the moment.</p><p>ooo</p><p>Eivor had drunk the Saxon man under the table and was not even feeling the effects of the mead. She rolled her eyes as the man fell on the ground.</p><p>“Pathetic,” she mumbled before stepping over him and walking towards the table where Hytham was still sitting. “Let’s go,” she said.</p><p>“Have you learned anything useful?” he asked.</p><p>Eivor grunted. “We’ll be staying in Ledecestrescire for a little while, let’s find somewhere warm to spend the night.”</p><p>The harsh cold night was exactly what Eivor had needed. As they rode in silence, she closed her eyes a second, enjoying the feeling of the wind on her face. By chance, they finally found a little house outside of the city that seemed to have been deserted. Had the owners died? Had they fled? Eivor did not care much about anything other than starting a fire and getting a good’s night sleep.</p><p>Eivor let Hytham start the fire as she took off her boots. Sitting next to the man, she could feel the heat radiating from him just as much as the heat from the fire. Eivor wrapped her arms around her legs and put her chin on her knees, watching Hytham as he stoked the fire.</p><p>“I would never try to change you,” he said quietly, taking her by surprise. “The Hidden Ones have a very different idea of what a woman should or should not do or want. We know very little about how our brotherhood came to be but we do know that its founders were partners in every aspect of their lives. I would never ask of you less than a partnership. We would be equals in all things.”</p><p>“Hytham- I don’t know what to say.”</p><p>Hytham took her hand in his. “Say you don’t want me,” he told her. Eivor felt his eyes staring right into her soul. “Say you don’t love me and I’ll never speak of this again. But know that you have nothing to fear from me.”</p><p>“I’m not afraid of you,” she finally whispered. “I’m afraid of myself. I’ve never felt that way before. I- I’m afraid of loosing myself. I don’t know how to let go.”</p><p>Hytham squeezed her hand. “Sometimes you just need to take a leap of faith.”</p><p>Eivor snorted softly. “I’d be less afraid of jumping off a cliff,” she admitted.</p><p>Hytham finally broke into a smile. “When you’re ready to take that leap,” he told her, looking at her steadily. “I’ll be right here, waiting for you.”</p><p>Eivor’s breath caught. She slowly raised her other hand to his cheek, taking a moment to stare at him, mesmerized by the way the light of the fire made his skin glow. Even in the dead of winter, Hytham was able to make her feel warm. The sudden fluttery feeling in her belly reminded her of what she had felt standing on the edge of the cliff the first time she had jumped.</p><p>Eivor closed her eyes and let herself fall.</p><p> </p><p>THE END</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Killing members of the Order, helping people find love, the family business.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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